Top 10 New Roller Coasters for 2010 Part 1

With the start of the 2010 roller coaster season underway, it’s time for my annual top picks for the best new roller coasters. This year was tougher than usual as there weren’t many new coasters opening in the States. Also, there were a few attractions with very little information for me to go on. After much deliberation and repositioning here’s Part 1 of my Top 10 New Roller Coasters for 2010:

Flying Turns at Knoebels – Elysburg, PennsylvaniaKnoebels to Resurrect an Extinct Type of Wooden Coaster
Ride Experience:A family roller coaster that will deliver that Winter bobsled experience on a unique wooden chute, instead of steel.

Knoebels has been working on Flying Turns for the past few years. According to Wikipedia, Flying Turns was the name of a specific type of wooden roller coaster. They featured a trackless wooden chute that wastwisted like a bobsled course and had toboggan-like cars. There hasn’t been one in operation in over 30 years, so it seems like a great move by Knoebels to resurrect this type of coaster. Knoebels still has Flying Turns listed as “Coming Soon” on their website, but I’d have to think that they can complete it this year after more than 3 years of construction.

My Take: Flying Turns is an important little roller coaster. It’ll be the only one of its kind (that I know of at least). And, it could help to put the small Central Pennsylvania park on the map again, just as the airtime-packed Phoenix did. Most importantly, Flying Turns matches the homey, old school amusement park feel that makes Knoebels so special.

GT Coaster | Ferrari World – Abu DhabiFerrari-themed Roller Coaster to Take Racing Coasters to New HeightsRide Experience:A launched racing coaster with duel tracks that will provide a thrilling race to the finish line in Ferrari-themed trains.

Recently, I was sent an image of the new GT Coaster opening this year at Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi. The trains are themed afterFerrari F430 Spiders. Fittingly, the roller coaster will feature a launch to simulate Ferrari’s super fast accelerations. GT Coaster is being built by Maurer Sohne, the same company that built Hollywood: Rip, Ride, Rockit. It will feature two racing tracks that will complete with a finish line. Also, there will be four launch sections on each track with multiple overtaking maneuvers that will push the trains to speeds of 40 mph to 60 mph.

My Take: To my knowledge, the multiple launch sections will make GT Coaster the first racing or dueling coaster that will do this. Multiple launches put an interesting wrinkle in a pretty standard coaster type. I also like that Ferrari World is offering a racing coaster at a theme park based on a sports car. It sounds like a no-brainer, but there are two NASCAR-themed coasters in the States that look great, but don’t mimic a racing experience as well as they could.

2009’s RingRacer was notable for its location at a popular race track in Germany and for its record-setting speed. Soon after it opened, it closed and is set to re-open this year. Meanwhile, at the new Ferrari World theme park in Abu Dhabi, F1 Coaster will take the speed record to a new level. The Intamin-designed F1 Coaster will be capable of 150 mph although officials from the park have said that they might operate it at lower speeds.

My Take: Long time record holders Kingda Ka & Top Thrill Dragster’s 0 to 130-ish mph launches are widely known to be pretty intense. I can’t imagine what an 150 mph launch will feel like. I’m a little surprised that the park admits that they might operate the coaster at lower speeds. This may mean that we’re at or near the limits of intensity for launched roller coasters. Either way, this is the perfect attraction for a race-themed park. I wonder if the RingRacer operators are investigating ways to increase the speed of their coaster as they repair it for 2010.

The Netherlands will get a twin racing wooden coaster designed by Great Coasters International (GCI) at Efteling. Joris en de Draak is Dutch for “George and the Dragon”. Some are describing it as a dueler, but to me, it looks more like a racer. If the fan-created simulations based on the blueprints are accurate, then Joris en de Draak doesn’t have fly-bys like Busch Gardens Tampa’s Gwazi. Either way, it will be a fun ride. Riders will choose either a “Water” or “Vuur” (Dutch for fire) train.

My Take: Joris en de Draak could be one of Europe’s best woodies and one of the region’s only racing coasters. GCI also built the top ranking El Toro for Germany’s Freizeitpark Plohn in 2008. They seem to be on a bit of a roll internationally in recent years.

Universal Studios Singapore opened recently with a launched dueling coaster in the space-themed BattlestarGalactica. Riders can choose either a traditional sit down style “Human” train or an inverted “Cylon” train. The inverted track offers the more intense path with five loops (cobra roll, corkscrew, vertical loop, & an in-line twist). The seated track is being promoted as more family friendly with small drops, twists, and turns. In an homage to Islands of Adventures’ Incredible Hulk, the ride begins with an inclined launch and turnaround partially over water. The Vekoma-designed Battlestar Galactica will be one of their first roller coasters featuring their new four-across trains. The larger trains should help to increase ride capacity.

My Take: Battlestar Galactica will be a strong addition to a brand new park. The inverted versus sit down trains add a new twist and the inclined launch looks pretty cool too. Like Islands of Adventures’ Dueling Dragons Fire & Ice (now renamed Dragon Challenge to fit the new Harry Potter theme), there will be a more intense track and less intense track. There’s no doubt that the Cylon track will be more attractive to coaster enthusiasts. The Human track looks pretty boring unless there are some good head chopper moments with tracks or the other train passing overhead. While it may seem a bit gimmicky to have the two different ride types it will allow the coaster to appeal to a much wider range of guests.

Check back for Part 2 of my Top 10 New Roller Coasters for 2010 which will include my pick for the best new roller coaster. In 2008, I picked Ravine Flyer II and in 2009 I chose Diamondback. Which roller coaster will it be this year? Stay tuned…

21 Responses to “Top 10 New Roller Coasters for 2010 Part 1”

You may be right, like I said it's a tough year to rank these rides. I even thought about having some ties. I put Battlestar Galactica ahead of Joris, because it'll be a more unique experience and it could offer some great head chopper/leg chopper effects. But Joris could be the better overall ride. It just reminded me of a mini-Lightning Racer which would be great, but nothing new.

so heres my review for BGT today… Me and my group were in the park when it opened… no big deal. Then, we RAN in front of all these people to the Montu. It didnt help. We waited at least 5 minuets before they let us in. Finally, i got to the front of the line for the front row, and it felt so good! The morning was really long, i left at quarter till 6 and waited like an hour till they let us PARK. After Montu, we headed to the Scorpion. No wait, and we went in the 2nd row. It wasnt the best and I forgot about the little surprise in the end. Not good. We got off, then we went to Cheetah Chase. We got on after about 5 min. and it was fun! First good Wild Mouse ive been on. We walked over to the Kumba, and it was my brothers first time. I got him with the shocky grass trick ( after the tunnel in the end, sit on the right side and touch grass). I was a little dissapointed though. I thought it has gotten pretty rough since September. But it was still fun. After that, we went to the Jungala. We rode the swing thing (not that good). Then, we went to the tower ride, and was actually pretty fun. We played in the nets like little kids (I know, pretty lame, but it just looked like so much fun!) We saw a pretty weird gator, it was deffinitley a gator, but it had a long nose, not a croc), and spent lunch there, in one of the coolest resteraunts ever! It had orangutangs right in front of you! After that, we went to Sheikra (about 11) and waited a good half-hour. I wouldnt have been on it (im not scared, its just too short), because one of the people in my group hadnt been on and wanted to be on it. After that, we went on the log flume. It is alot better than I remember, with one of the drops not stopping. We rode the Gwazi, and I rode the Lion, and my friends went on the other one because it was shorter. They ended up getting on twice before I got on once! Later, we went to the new kiddy coaster, and is… not the best. It was our goal to ride all the coasters, so we had to do it. Hundreds of kids for half an hour screaming and crying. Finally, we left. It was a long day, and we were all tired. Here's all the reviews: Sheikra: 7/10 Kumba:9/10 Montu:10/10 Scorpion:7/10 Cheetah Chase: 8/10 Air Grover:4/10 Red Gwazi:8/10

I spoke with a representative from Knoebels recently at a trade show and she said that Flying Turns was still not ready, and the winter's triple blizards has held back progress but they fully intend to have the ride open by the end of the season.

Joris en de Draak features a station fly-over, among other cool features. It will be a very different experience than Gwazi's fly-by. Fan-created animations have been close, but do not do the ride justice.

Sounds great Evan. I figured it wouldn't have the fly-bys and instead focus more on racing than dueling. Was there a simulation video created for Joris en de Draak? Would Efteling be sponsoring any contest that American enthusiasts can enter to win for a trip to the park?